Episode 1344: Something Old, Something New
Date March 7, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh (re)introduces new co-hosts Sam Millerhttps://twitter.com/sammillerbb of ESPN and Meg Rowleyhttps://twitter.com/megrowler of FanGraphs. Together, they explain the show’s new format and schedule, pay tribute to departed co-host Jeff Sullivan, and answer listener emails about a team made of clones of Ken Griffey Jrhttps://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=327&position=OF, how to reacclimate to baseball after taking an offseason off, and what they’re most anticipating about the 2019 season. Topics *25 Ken Griffey Jr’s *Best way to catch up on offseason *Looking forward to in 2019 Intro The Frames, "New Partner" Outro The Lemon Twigs, "As Long As We’re Together" Banter *The New Cohosts *How the podcast will work *The time Sam scooped Meg's beer guy article *Bartolo Colon *Jeff Email Questions *Evan: In a recent Ringer article by an author that I have never heard of, anonymous Reds scouts talk about how great of a ballplayer Ken Griffey Jr. was when the Reds were shopping for him in late 1999. One of the scouts is quoting as having written "Get 25 of this guy and you will have the best team in the history of baseball." Upon further inspection, this statement appears to be very, very false. This brings me to my question: how bad would a team with 25 Ken Griffeys Junior be? Assume that the Ken-clones must play all nine positions, including pitcher and catcher. It seems that the team would be the best hitting team ever, with great outfield defense, bottom-of-the-barrel framing numbers, and Astudillo-esque pitching numbers. *Dario (Brisbane, Australia): I decided at the end of last season that I was going to completely abstain from all baseball news during the offseason. I realised that my life had become too serious and I needed to spend more time on frivolous things like my faith, family and career. I have made overtures about doing something similar in past years without lasting more than a week into November, but much to my shock, this year, I have prevailed (so far). No awards announcements, no trades or signings, no rule changes, no front office moves, no fat player photos, nothing. I live in Australia with zero baseball content in any mainstream media so that has made it much easier to avoid any inadvertent consumption. To the point, I am asking for your direction on how I should break my fast. There are a few factors to consider: I won't consume anything baseball-related until opening day; I of course have resource constraints but am willing to countenance any options regardless of resource implications (probably (read: definitely) not flying to the US for games but I do have access to MLB TV with no blackouts, thanks to being in Australia); and I am a Mets' fan and I primarily view the game through that lens, but consuming intelligent analysis of the game (and its idiosyncracies) also makes up a big part of my baseball enjoyment. At this point I'm thinking that just turning on the Mets' opener and seeing who is on the mound and in the lineup and catch up on everything else by osmosis would be fun, but maybe that's just a quick, cheap thrill. Should I article-binge? Read a couple of seminal pieces? Listen to every EW episode from that period? Baseball Reference rabbit hole? Avoid MLB completely this year and follow Indy ball? GIFs? I'm in your hands. I appreciate that as two people who make their living from people consuming baseball content you may not want to encourage this type of behaviour, but if it's any consolation, I have been continuing my quest during the offseason to listen to every EW episode and am pleased to say that I am now up to ep. 1056! Vale Ned Garver and Bill Hands. *Aaron: This has been a particularly depressing offseason for my favorite team (the Cubs, literally doing everything possible to get me to switch fandoms), and has been a generally depressing offseason as a fan who wants to watch good players play baseball while I'm work between March and September. So to distract me from all of the non-news and genuinely upsetting comments from GMs today, I'd love to hear some things you're excited to see this season. I'd hate to step on any previews early but, particular players to watch for? Fun new trends? How about that new marlins logo? Won't it be cool to see ______?? Sorry I'm low on ideas, that's kinda why I'm asking the question. Thanks for having a bright shining podcast in the middle of the dark winter. Notes *“You never made him as happy as he could have been Jeff” - Sam *“No one will miss Jeff, not even a little bit” - Meg *Sam thinks Jeff is knee deep in TPS reports. *“What do you want here Ben” “To let people know you are not here under duress” - Ben *“Wasn't Michael Jordan the Michael Jordan of baseball?” - Sam *The Mariners actually used the 25 Ken Griffey Jr idea in a 1998 commercial. *Sams looking most forward to the NL Central and East, Meg is looking most forward to seeing Vladimir Gurerro Jr, and Ben's looking forward to the Royals. Links * Episode 1344: Something Old, Something New * Link to Griffey clone commercial * Link to Ben’s Griffey scouting report article * Link to Sam’s Belt/beer vendor article * Link to Sam on position players pitching * Link to Sam’s Bartolo article * Link to preorder The MVP Machine Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes